Civil servants evicted from Park Road Estate in Ngara, Nairobi, to pave way for construction of affordable houses will be prioritised when the government starts selling the new units.
The Ministry of Transport, Infrastructure and Housing has said it will soon start selling some of the 1,370 units it is putting up under the Big Four Agenda.
The Chinese contractor last month handed over to the ministry the first batch of 228 units, with the remaining houses expected to be completed by the end of this year.
In a statement yesterday, the ministry said it will advertise the houses for sale.
“Civil servants who were occupying the Park Road Estate and were given notices to vacate to allow for the construction of the on-going Affordable Homes Project will be given the first priority to purchase the constructed units,” said the Housing ministry.
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“They are therefore required to avail the necessary documents as evidence that they were occupying the vacated homes to the Civil Servants Housing Scheme Fund secretariat.”
Other Kenyans who wish to buy the houses will need to express their interest on the Boma Yangu portal, which the ministry says has already received 270,000 applications. Allocations will be done through balloting.
Buyers need to have saved 12.5 per cent of the selling price before getting a mortgage to offset the balance at nine per cent interest for up to 25 years.
The government targets 500,000 housing units by 2022, with the bulk of the units expected to be built by the private sector. The State will play an enabling role, including putting up utility infrastructure such as sewerage, electricity and water.
Housing Principal Secretary Charles Hinga said during the handover in January that the target would be surpassed since over Sh1 trillion has been committed by investors.
Among the investors is the United Nations Office for Project Services, which has committed Sh500 billion to develop 100,000 units in Athi River.
emacharia@standardmedia.co.ke
